The Super Bowls of Your Life

The fervor that is American professional football culminates this week in the Super Bowl championship game. Each club and each player earned their resultant place in the game based on their positive performance over a period in their life. This end of season contest is recognition of those years of growth and accomplishments that put each player on their own Super Bowl field.  

What accomplishments of yours are worthy of your special recognition and celebration?  

What Are Your Life Super Bowls?

Recognizing your life’s biggest payoffs and the efforts that delivered them can inspire and instruct future ones. So ask yourself, what life Super Bowls have I played in?  

Remind yourself of the professional, personal, or learning successes in your life. Relationship wins. Work wins. Self-improvement and fulfillment wins.  Enjoy your thoughts.

“Buying my first new car. A great little sports car I loved.”

This response came from a successful professional who reflected that buying that car in her mid-20’s was a recognition of her financial and mental independence and establishing herself in her career.

“When I was first hired as a salesman I set my sights on being a manager. When I achieved that initial promotion…that was my first professional Super Bowl win.”

This gentleman went on to many more wins, eventually becoming president of that firm and later starting others. But his immediate answer as to his Super wins was that first promotion.

“Being a Mom. Having my grown children successfully out on their own and still loving to be in my company. A big win!” The quickly stated personal Super Bowl victory from a business owner who had many.

“Creating my own self-worth. Getting to know who I am and what gives my life value.” This CEO recognized creating his own self-worth as a key to his work and life success.  Before you can lead others to a good place you must first be able to lead yourself to one.

After you’ve thought about your wins, consider the corresponding value that can come from evaluating opportunities missed. What big games did I play in that I lost? What could I have done different to make the outcomes better? What did I learn from my wins and my losses? How can I apply those lessons in the future?

What Big Life Wins Do You Want For Your Future?

What potential life Super Bowls are you currently playing in? They are there if you look.  Are you playing to win?  What future Super Bowl outcome would excite you and motivate you going forward? Visualize one of those victories and how it could make your life better, more exciting or fulfilling.

Most bigger, worthy victories require consistent, often everyday effort over an extended time. As the namesake for the Super Bowl trophy, Vince Lombardi, consistently coached, "The will to win is not nearly so important as the will to prepare to win."

If you want lifetime victories of rich and rewarding relationships you must practice being a rich and rewarding partner in each relationship every day. If you want to win the financial Super Bowl of a solid retirement fund by x age, you need to set up a plan and be financially disciplined daily, weekly and monthly. The same is true for every big victory you aspire to whether it is a professional promotion or the novel you want to publish.  Prepare, practice and act every day in a way that will craft that win.

You Won’t Win Them All – But You Can Grow From Them All

There are risks in going after these big wins. Despite consistent quality efforts our relationships, jobs, investments and health can disappoint and confound. Sometimes you lose. Sometimes you get hurt. The alternative though is to stay on the sidelines. That might seem safer; but nothing much good happens when you are sitting or standing around just watching. The rewards come from getting in the game.

We can choose to be a champion in the professional and personal sides of our life. Plan and strive for meaningful wins. You won’t always be the victor in each Super Bowl effort but you will be a much wiser player and contributor to your life and that of others for the trying.

If there is a life Super Bowl win in your mind why not commit to it right now? Schedule in your calendar re-occurring reminders to prepare, practice and act in ways that will deliver a life championship to you. Go play the game.

Enjoy the achieving!